


Something About Us

by Lunarium



Category: A Redtail's Dream (Webcomic), City of Hunger (Video Game), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A little bit of sickfic, Alternate Reality, Androids, Brief mention of prostitution, Crossover (but main fandom is VLD), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Quintessence, Resource Extraction Mission, VLD Tropes Fest 2017, non-binary Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-12 22:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12969288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: While Sven recovers in Space Hospital, he passes intel along to a physician's assistant about quintessence, a possible cure for any illness. The assistant urges his lover that this may be his only chance to retrieve a cure for his terminally ill cousin. They team up for the expedition, but Empress Allura hears of their feat and send out Akira, her most trusted commander, to go after them.Meanwhile on alt-Earth, Hannu is playing host to some friends from overseas, including one Lance. He dreams of going to space. Little does he know his life's about to turn upside down when something falls from the heavens, bringing its war with it.But, remember: this is the reality where everything works outjust fiiine.





	Something About Us

**Author's Note:**

> Written for VLD Tropefest and also H/C Bingo's prompt "septicemia / infected wounds." Title comes from song by Daft Punk of the same name. :)

“Dying man coming through!” Slav called out as he pushed his way through the pristine halls, pushing hospital personal left and right as he dragged along his partner. Sven was too heavy to lift, and Slav’s legs too short to keep him off the ground, so Sven was carried into Space Hospital with blood seeping out from his wound and slicking across the clean floors. 

Someone screamed and demanded Slav where he should go. Another command came for the cleaning staff. 

Meanwhile, Reynir Árnason, physician’s assistant, was enjoying a small round stuffed pastry and was completely unaffected by the smell of fecal waste the patient inside the room had recently voided in his bedpan. He was typing away at a patient’s profile on the mobile nurse’s station when he heard the commotion. Looking up he caught sight of the bright green glow against the black leather uniforms. 

“Guns of Gamara!” he gasped excitedly and nearly gagged on his snack. Stowing away the rest for later in his pocket along with his handy medical guide on the physiology of iceworms, he hopped to his feet and ran after the two newcomers.

*

Rhythmic beeping from the heart monitor was what roused Sven from his sleep. He had been heavily sedated, or too much blood was lost, or Slav had knocked him hard against the wall while rounding a corner. Either way, he appeared to be fine. He certainly _felt_ fine at the moment, no worse than all the previous times he’s paid the good Space Hospital a visit.

Slav sat slouched like a question mark on one chair. Voices carried on as usual outside the patient room when, noticing the curtains shift from one side and then close, someone burst through the doors with his arms thrown out, crying out a welcome. Slav jolted out of his nap and shook himself silly. He grabbed for his gun, realizing it wasn’t there (hospital regulations; they had one bad incident, even if it was against Altean generals), and slouched back in his seat. 

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Slav said bitterly. “And _you_! I was having a marvelous dream for once! The probability of that dream happening again in this reality is 0.00021%!”

“Yep!” Reynir said happily as he invited himself to a spot on Sven’s bed. “Well, Sven, it looks like that ray missed your heart by a few inches! Slav told me all the details of your adventure leading to your injury. Must have been someone real special for you to take a hit for him!” 

With a chuckle, Sven placed a hand on his heart. “Oh, he was. He was of another reality.” 

“Another real—did you bang your head? Because you’re talking like your friend!” 

The two guffawed—Slav crossed his arms with an irritated “Umph!”—as Sven pushed the image of that young man away from his mind. “There was a someone, and I did it because it was kind.” 

Reynir leaned closer. “And what else did you find out?” 

Smirking, Sven motioned for his clothes. Reynir retrieved it, shooting glances at the curtains to make certain they would not get interrupted before handing Sven’s belongings back to him. He rummaged for a moment before producing a small device. Pressing the button on it, a small hologram appeared above his bed. Reynir leaned in to study. 

“There’s an Altean base on a life-rich planet called Earth,” Sven explained. “From our reports, there is great field of quintessence being produced, and the people guarding it are mainly the natives. It should be easy for us to access and take what we need.” 

Reynir studied the hologram images of the planet, zooming closer of the region of interest. “Earth, huh? And why should we get to this quintessence?”

*

“Oh, Lal~liii!”

Lalli cringed at the sickeningly cute sing-song voice as Reynir appeared before him. He was having a nice quiet moment crunched up in here, in an empty patient ward in the unfurnished region of the hospital wing, focusing on his work over his laptop before his lover (of sorts) came barging in. This wing was never completed during the last renovations due to insufficient funds, much to Lalli’s satisfaction. He may have had something to do with it. He needed an office for his own work, and someplace far from meddling humans. So of course he had to attempt to hack into the hospital’s database and sabotage the project in any way her could. Reynir never snitched on him. 

The most that ever bothered him now were the occasional blares on the intercom for code blues or code browns. And rare appearances of Reynir. 

“What do you want me to hack?” Lalli asked in a bored voice, then a moment later quickly added, “Did you bring me something to eat?” 

Reynir pulled out the remainder of his pastry—chocolate, damn him, that puppy-eyed privileged physician assistant getting to live the life of a king. Lalli wolfed it down in one bite. 

“I was wondering if you’d like to help Sven, Slav, and I go on a little trip to Planet Earth!” Reynir said with a great grin. “We just need you to help us hack into a spaceship we can borrow for a bit! You can join us too, of course!” 

“Earth?” Lalli raised an eyebrow. “What kind of race calls their motherplanet Earth? Sounds like a burp or a fart.” 

Reynir laughed. “Well, they do sound lovely, if a bit…misguided.” 

Lalli rolled his eyes and continued tapping away at the keyboard. 

“Listen, Sven spotted great stores of quintessence there and…we think we might have a cure for your cousin.” 

The tapping stopped. The change in Lalli’s eyes, slight and brief though it was, wasn’t missed by Reynir. 

“Don’t make false promises.” 

“I’m not!” Reynir said breathlessly before flopping onto his knees next to Lalli. “Lalli, listen…quintessence is life.” 

Lalli’s hands still hadn’t moved over the keyboard. “Oh?” 

“Sven has proof of it. I was just there visiting him. He had some battle with Commander Toran and General Hira. Toran’s lab was full of experiments. He had it all recorded for me. It can be used to cure any illness, even bring someone from the brinks of death! What else can claim such a success for your cousin?” 

“And the Empress is hoarding this quintessy?” 

“Of course. It will ensure her reign for many eons. While one by one each planet is becoming a world of non-cogs. We’re one of the last still holding out, but for how long?” 

“Because we’re starving and sick. If she can’t control us she can laugh as we die slowly,” Lalli said. “And this planet’s too cold.” 

Reynir bit his lip before eventually nodding. “Well…yeah, I suppose you’re right. But listen: Sven and Slav want to go to Earth. It’s not heavily guarded. We can extract quintessence and figure out a means to use it for ourselves. And maybe get the inhabitants on that planet to join up with the Guns of Gamara. 

“And we can steal some away for your cousin and cure her! Empress Allura will never know what hits her!” 

Lalli sat still for the longest while, mulling over Reynir’s words before he sighed. 

“That’s too risky. That’s something I cannot do and risk never seeing Tuuri again. I’m meeting with Valttu in a little bit.” 

“What, _again_?” 

“Where else do I get the bulk of my money?” Lalli shot him a look right in the eye. “I suck his dick, he gives me cash. It’s enough to feed Tuuri and me and pay for her medicine.” 

Reynir stood there visibly struggling over his rivalry over this Valttu. He had never seen the guy, as far as Lalli knew. He never said anything about Lalli’s other occupation in making money, and it wasn’t that Lalli loved Reynir less (if that was love. Lalli wasn’t sure he knew what it was.) It was just that Valttu was loaded with cash, and Lalli could use the money. 

“I can give you money and food! And you don’t have to suck my dick! Not for those reasons, I mean! You can do it because you like…only if you like me!” 

Lalli gave a big sigh, stood up, swung his laptop shut, tucked it under his arm, and made to leave. 

“Sorry, Reynir. I’ll think about it, maybe, I know no other _safe_ way to help Tuuri,” he said, and he was gone.

*

Tuuri waved to him brightly from where she sat on the living room room of the apartment she shared with her brother. She had been reading from a tablet laid out before her, controlling it with a small device worked into the bubble that encased her. It kept her safe from everyone and everything around her, and it kept everyone safe from her illness.

Lalli still managed to work in a hug around the large bubble, the gesture itself oddly warm after his moment with Valttu. It wasn’t that Valttu was cruel. The man was eager to be serviced, but he was clearly disappointed with Lalli’s insistence on just a quickie today.

“Have a lot on my mind,” Lalli had explained. 

Valttu had still paid Lalli handsomely. In the end Lalli didn’t feel like he earned today’s pay but…who was he kidding? He had Tuuri’s medication in one bag, and the other hand held a bag ladened with styrofoam boxes of food. A delicacy. Something with fish. It smelled decent. 

Tuuri thanked him, and to his surprise thanked the painting of Empress Allura hanging on the living room. 

_She’s reason why you’re not cured yet_ , Lalli thought in mild bitterness as Tuuri ate happily before him, asking him about his job, mainly of which he had to dodge or make up lies as not to upset her. Despite the severity of her condition, despite her hair falling off, her eyes still shone with all the warmth and hope that, somehow, by the Empress Allura’s good graces, she would one day be cured. Staring at her, something stirred inside Lalli — _quintessence is life_ — before it finally bubbled over and snapped.

He reached over and grabbed for Tuuri’s hand, cursing the material that separated them. 

“Tuuri, I promise you will see better days,” he said. “Reynir and I have a plan. You will get better. We will get out of here and live together, all three of us, and you won’t have to live in this stupid bubble!” 

“Lal—”

“Hey, is your cousin here? I told him he wasn’t allowed in this place after he—”

Lalli didn’t wait to hear any more. He quickly kissed Tuuri’s hand and bolted out with a box of food in his hands — Onni could starve for all he cared — and ran off to begin his work.

*

Reynir gasped at the message he received. He was inputting the medications list onto a recently admitted patient when a red bar appeared on screen with a message meant only for him to read. From Lalli. He exited out the screen then called out for a nurse to complete his task before rushing over to Sven’s room.

“He’s got a spaceship ready for us!” he announced breathlessly. 

Sven pushed himself up by his elbows and winced. 

“He still needs days to rest!” Slav argued. “By my calculations the probability of his still-healing injuries affecting his odds in battle are at 96.3%!” 

“But this is our only chance!” Reynir shot Sven a worried look. “Oh, but he’s right! I’ll have to gather some supplies for you, unless…” 

“We’ll go,” Sven said, sliding his legs over the bed. He winced as pain shot over his side. The strike had been on his chest, and even breathing too deeply hurt, but pain lingered elsewhere. He took a few moments to steady himself before motioning for his clothes. “Get me there fast!” 

Reynir helped him into his clothes as Slav considered the matter of sneaking them out of the ward without anyone noticing. He, of course, opted for the element of distraction: silent smoke bombs that turned the air thick and setting off fire sprinklers, all guaranteeing to distract the medical staff for hours on end. 

“Good thing you didn’t set off anything with sound!” Reynir hissed at him. “Those poor patients are already having a tough time without fearing that the whole place’s been blown to bits!” 

He led them out from the back door and followed the coordinates Lalli had passed to him. Lalli met them in an old, abandoned parking garage. 

“I kept it underground,” he said flatly. “The cloaking device doesn’t last for long, so I did the next best thing.” 

“So we’re blasting our way out?” Reynir cried out. 

Slav chuckled darkly at that. 

“You want us to be found?” 

“Oh, no, young man!” Slav said as they ran into the spaceship. He went into the pilot seat next to Sven. “Always remember: this is the reality where everything works out just fine!” 

Lalli turned to Reynir. “What does he mean by…” 

The spaceship blew through the garage.

*

Reynir and Slav continued to scream and argue with each other throughout the trip. Lalli resorted to tapping away at his laptop once more.

As for Sven, his chest muscles ached if he moved too fast or inhaled too deeply. A few more day’s rest would have sufficed, but they could not risk losing any more time. The antibiotic was administered; it should be doing its work. Even if in an insufficient amount, it should linger long enough in his body until they got back, and if he was in need of another dose, Reynir had collected enough to administer more into him, assuming they had the luxury to settle somewhere and hook up an IV. 

He glanced out. As their motherplanet, and then their galaxy grew smaller and smaller, Sven gave a little smile as that dream returned to him again. He wondered how the young man was doing now back in his proper dimension. He wondered if he would ever meet him again in this reality.

*

Lance stretched his back until his spine nearly cracked. The stars out here were nothing like back at home, and he wanted to hug Hannu once they met up.

“Look at that!” he said excitedly to his friends. “The polar lights are beautiful!” 

“Aurora borealis,” Pidge corrected as they approached Lance. “A phenomenon seen when gaseous particles of the Earth’s atmosphere collide with charged particles from the sun.” 

“Gee, now you made it less interesting, thanks _Kit Gunnerson_!” 

“Hey, you’re always talking about getting into NASA,” Hunk said, coming to Pidge’s rescue. “Perhaps crack open an astronomy book and do something other than look at the pretty pictures?” 

Lance sighed. “I was just teasing, man!” He glanced back up at the sky. Truth was, he wasn’t sure if he would ever be good enough to be an astronaut or do anything with space. But damn if he loved them and spent a good many hours just daydreaming about being among the stars. 

“Lance!” 

They turned towards the source of the call to see a young man approaching, waving to them. Lance’s eyes shone. 

“Hannu! _Hei!_ ” 

“Is that all you know in Finnish?” Pidge teased him before they went on to greet Hannu with a lot more impressive grasp of the language. Hannu knew English well enough but it didn’t stop Lance, Pidge, and Hunk from wanting to try the few phrases they’ve practiced during their flight. 

“I see the northern lights have already gotten your attention,” Hannu said as he led them to his house. 

As they talked and laughed, passing over a bridge, Lance glanced out and froze at the sight. A large bonfire was set up in the wide field, except instead of fire there was a great golden light emitting from the ground. 

“What is that?” Lance asked. 

Hannu shrugged. “Something Anu and the rest of the guys do to keep Kokko watching over us. Samuli is there right now.” 

“Samuli…your boyfriend?” Hunk asked slowly, remembering Hannu’s letters and photos. 

Hannu tried to hide the sheepish smile but failed. “Yeah.” 

The home Hannu now resided in belonged to both Samuli and his. He explained how Ville now took over the old place and kept his parents company whenever they were back from Suonenjoki (and Ville had a pet turtle of his own to keep himself happy and occupied.) But thankfully as Samuli’s place was located on the same street, it didn’t mean being far from his old home. 

The place, from the moment Lance stepped inside, gave an odd sense of a sort of spiritual energy. He was not one to obsess over such matters. His mother and grandmother and aunt were more into that, but Lance couldn’t shake the feeling that spirits were watching their every step. 

He tried to shake off the feeling as they were made to settle down: their luggages set in the rooms they were to sleep in for their stay, and made themselves at home in the living room as Hannu prepared some tea for them. Within an hour, the four were chatting away and laughing and Lance forgot all about the strange feeling over his shoulder.

*

“Empress, I have received word that a ship was stolen from a cargo base earlier today on planet Niflheim,” the commander reported as he bowed before the throne. “There is reason to suspect the Guns of Gamara are behind this.”

“Ah, our little colony with the false perception of freedom,” Empress Allura said. “And their destination?” 

“Earth.” 

The empress gave a small smile, unbothered by the news. “They are quickly catching up to my intel, it would seem. You will hunt them down and take them out, Commander Akira. I trust you will carry out this mission successfully.” 

Akira took her offered hand and kissed it. “Victory or death is my oath to you, my empress.” 

“Good.” She bowed her head and then motioned to the robotic guard beside her who dutifully stepped into the light and regarded Akira. “I will appoint Takashi to accompany you on your task. Should any harm come near you, he will gun down the entire vicinity.” 

He regarded the glassy yet menacing stare of the android before giving her another bow. 

“Thank you, my empress.”

*

Samuli joined them when they dined at the bakery. He was a bit older than Hannu, which required some getting used to. They had known about the age gap ever since Hannu had sent a photo of them together. Seeing them in the flesh, it was difficult to discern what it was in their personalities that gelled them together.

“Maybe the sex is really great,” Lance whispered to Hunk and Pidge who both immediately pulled a face. 

“Could do without that visual, Lance,” Hunk said. 

“Think they ever did it in the shed?” Pidge whispered, motioning to the place outside their window. “Didn’t the twins say they used to tie up Hannu in there from time to time?” They pointed over to Jonna and Joona, the eldest daughter and son of Jouko Kuikka, the owner of the bakery. As if she had heard Pidge, Jonna glanced up and gave them a wink.

Hunk groaned. 

“Yeah, but they weren’t _those kinds_ of tying up, I mean…Hannu’s not that kind of guy, do you think?” 

“No visuals, I said,” Hunk warned. 

“What business did Jonna and Joona have in tying up Hannu anyway?” Pidge asked. 

“Maybe he was misbehaving,” Lance chuckled. “Or he _really_ likes it, if you know what I mean. Wonder if Samuli watched. He might have paid the twins.” He glanced towards Hannu who was busy ordering some drinks for them as the twins chattered away a storm. Samuli was with him, standing with arms crossed and gazing silently through heavy-lidded eyes. As if they felt Lance’s eyes on him, Hannu and Samuli turned turned in unison towards him, and the three friends snuffled their laughter. 

“I _really_ didn’t want to envision that,” Hunk eventually said.

*

Night drew on dark, accompanied by the northern lights and lit up gold by the strange bonfire in the faraway field. Lance sat and watched from afar in silent wonder, again as his mind wondered what it would be like to travel among the stars. Noting Lance’s interest, Samuli offered a tale or two of his work, opening up more as their cups emptied and refilled and eyelids grew heavy. Though still as demure as ever, he wasn’t as scarily austere as they had all previously assumed. Just weirded married to his work.

As they were invited to sleep in Hannu and Samuli’s home, whispers broke out between the three of them hoping they wouldn’t hear anything too raunchy from the next room (and chastising one another for thinking such things.) 

While Hunk and Pidge slept and snored rather too loud for Lance’s liking, he glanced back out to study the northern lights, the bonfire down below, and the stars far beyond the clouds. 

Something in the heavens glowed mightily. He smiled, briefly thinking of Kokko and her mighty wings protecting them just like in Samuli’s stories, when the glow burst, searing the heavens as the star shot right towards the earth. 

It wasn’t a shooting star. The path wasn’t…right. It was getting closer. Heading right towards them. 

Scrambling to his feet, Lance ran to Hunk first, shaking him awake. 

“Damn it, Lance, if you had another nightmare because of that _salmiakki_ , I told you not to eat if if you think it was going to disagree with y—WHOA!” 

The blind flash of light and ensuing earthquake was enough to wake up Pidge, who sat up with eyes wide. “What the hell was that?” 

“Aliens!” Lance said in a tight voice. Everyone turned to him with incredulous looks. “I…I think aliens? It fell from the sky!” 

The sound had not woken Hannu nor Samuli, oddly enough. They weren’t sure if they should rouse them or investigate on their own. After a brief argument, they opted for the latter. 

The…artifact (calling it a U.F.O. felt too weird)… had landed on a wide field just outside the village. 

“ _Whoa!_ It is a spaceship!” Hunk gasped as they reached it. 

Pidge studied the skies. “I don’t recall any space expeditions being conducted over this region at this moment of time. _And_ I don’t recognize the logo of this ship.” 

“Someone must be in there,” Lance said, getting antsy as he warily eyed the fire burning on one side of the shuttle. They heard shuffling of feet, moans and grunts, and moments later caught sight of some figures moving a short distance away. One was dragging another away while another was struggling to retrieve their friend from the burning ship. 

“Hey, they’re injured!” Lance ran up to them and immediately took over without a second look at the individual he had just pushed aside. “Hey, I got you, you’ll be fine,” he mumbled gently as he dragged the injured man as far from the burning wreckage as he could. 

Someone shouted something as he rushed past them and moments later the shuttle’s fire was extinguished. Although he heard Pidge and Hunk gasp, Lance didn’t look up. His eyes were glued to the man in his arms. 

He was very handsome. The prince of Disney movies. Yet his face was sickly pale and beads of sweat marred across his brow. An old wound was festering in his chest. Over a patch of dried blood Lance could see tiny dots of bright red seeping through. 

“Hey…” 

“Lance?” 

“What?” he looked down again. The man’s eyes were open and gazing up at him; he wore a soft smile. 

“How do you know my name?” Lance asked. 

“We meet again,” the man sighed. 

“You again!” scoffed a voice. Lance gave a start and nearly dropped the man in his arms as a creature—a cross between a ferret, some weird bird, and a centipede—scuttled up to them. His stubby fingers flashed quickly as if he were counting. “The probability of meeting you again on some randomly chosen planet in the universe is 0.000001%!” 

“What are you talking about?!” 

“Is that not you, Lance?” the man asked. He turned his head towards his friends and nodded his head. “I remember your friends. Pidge. Hunk.” 

“My name is Lance, but I don’t know who you are!” Lance said as they all gathered around them. 

One of the other two men swore loudly. He was a skinny thing, hair as grey as the final days of winter, but something about him gave Lance a sense of not wanting to approach him. 

“Oh, alternate reality Lance,” said the ferret-chicken-centipede alien in a snotty tone. “I do hope you’re not nearly as annoying as the other one.” 

“Is it the four of you?” Hunk asked before things could escalate farther. 

The red-haired man nodded, but he frowned as he studied their shuttle. “Yes, but without our spaceship we have little hope of returning to our home planet.” 

“Wait, you said home planet?” Lance asked, cocking an eyebrow at their accent, something that seemed familiar and yet not. “Where are you from?” 

The man in his arms smiled fondly. “A wonderful world where it snows every day, a bed of ice and snow on the ground nearly all year.” 

“So…Iceland?” 

“Niflheim,” the red-haired man replied solemnly. “I’m Reynir, a physician’s assistant from Space Hospital. This is Lalli, and that…Slav. Your friend is Sven. I agreed to drag in one of my patients to certain death.” 

“I will be fine,” Sven insisted. 

“No, you’re not!” Reynir said. “All of our stock of antibiotics has been destroyed in the fire!” 

“I can hack us into the nearest hospital,” Lalli said as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Pidge shot him a look with an arched eyebrow. 

“Yeah, well…assuming the bug causing the infection that you’re dealing happens to be sensitive to any antibiotics we have on Earth…the nearest hospital from the village of Hokanniemi would be about forty-two miles from here,” Pidge said as they skimmed through their phone. “Good luck with that!” 

Reynir shrugged. “They have a point, Lalli. I cannot be certain their medicine would benefit us. It could even be poison to our blood.” 

Lalli visibly deflated. “Damn them! The empress had something to do with this!” 

“The probability of the Empress sending an assassin after our tails is…87.6%,” Slav reported. 

“That’s kind of high?” Hunk commented. 

Sven chuckled. “We have many enemies, dear friend.” A series of terrible coughs racked his body.

“We need to get him somewhere safe!” Lance said, “before the assassin gets here!” 

“Where?” Pidge asked “Hannu will have a fit if we bring in aliens into his home without discussing it with him first.” 

“The shack!” Hunk said, beaming at his brilliant thought. “The shack the twins used to tie up Hannu!”

*

They could do nothing about disguising the shuttle and hoped no one would take note of it, of whatever remained of it. Sven rested against some crates looking worst for wear. His breathing came shallow and his sweating was worst, but he did not have Lance leave his side, a little fact that had Slav rolling his eyes and going on tangents ranting about Paladins and Voltron and some sharpshooter that Lance was both confused about and a little envious of.

After learning about the bakery, Lalli had disappeared and shown up with an arm full of buns. Slav quickly explained the dire food situation on their motherplanet. 

“I’m afraid he’s become septicemic,” Reynir eventually announced after examining Sven. “He’ll die and it’s my fault!”

“Er, do you want us to attempt to break into the nearest pharmacy?” Hunk asked. “I’m not one for crimes, but desperate times and all that. I know you said no to antibiotics, but there might be something else you could use?” 

Reynir shook his head. “No, we need quintessence! It’ll give us confirmation that it can heal anything!” Getting to his feet, Reynir made for the window and pointed towards the great bonfire. They could just barely see the golden light rising towards the heavens. 

“Wait, that’s what you came to our planet for?” Pidge asked. “We thought that was a regular bonfire! Fire and light!” 

“No, it’s quintessence,” Reynir said. “We are still learning about its properties, but we have suspicions the Empress has been harvesting it for some time.” 

“And Samuli said it was for Kokko.” 

“Samuli?” Lalli said, snorting. “A friend? He’s working for the empress, then.” 

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge gave one another odd looks. 

“I…I mean…he is a little odd,” Lance said, “but being in contact with an evil intergalactic empress and harvesting some alien resource for her all this time? Doesn’t seem like Hannu’s type.” 

Hunk shrugged. “He seems the sort?” 

“We came here to retrieve some of the quintessence to study for ourselves,” Reynir explained. “We’re part of a rebel group. And…we needed some to heal Lalli’s cousin.” 

“It’s the only reason why I agreed to this!” Lalli said. “Stuck on a weird planet with these primitive creatures.” 

Reynir winced. “They have food?”

Lalli shrugged and kept eating away at what must have been the seventh bun from the bakery. 

“Now how are we going to get the stuff from the bonfire?” Lance asked. “We can’t hide easily if someone catches us—we’ll be out in a field! And what would we say?” 

“Samuli is keeping samples in the cellar,” Pidge blurted out. 

Hunk groaned. “You could have told us this earlier.” 

“I wasn’t sure what it was at first,” Pidge confessed. “I had gone to get myself some water earlier this evening when I noticed a glow coming from the cellar. When I stole a peak inside I saw tall vials of this glowing golden liquid.” 

“Raw quintessence,” Sven said, nodding. “He’s storing them, and must be exporting them to the empress at intervals. Someone here must be a middle-man.” 

“There’s someone else helping?” Lance shivered. 

“But we can take some of the vials!” Reynir said. “It must be the quickest and safest bet. Three vials. One for Sven. One for the Guns of Gamara to study, and—”

“And one for Tuuri,” Lalli finished. 

“You said you were in the cellar?” 

Pidge nodded. “We’re staying with them.” 

Slav chuckled darkly. “Again this proves to be the reality where everything works out just fine!”

*

Lance ended up being among the group sent back to the house. He hoped during that time Hannu or Samuli hadn’t woken up and noticed their absence. A million stories crossed through his mind to give as an excuse, but he was more interested in getting the vials, heal Sven, evade any confrontation with Empress Allura’s hitman, and somehow send the nice aliens back home.

Joining him on this dangerous mission was Pidge, Slav, and Lalli. Lance hadn’t wanted to volunteer, but one glance, one moment in which his gaze lingered with Sven’s, and he couldn’t resist playing the hero. In the dark. While terrified of the man who had earlier told them tales of a Finnish god watching over them. 

_Kokko, you better be on our side and not his_ , Lance thought as his heart pounded. They rounded a corner the moment they hit the bottom of the stairs. The closer they got, the more intense the spiritual energy became, the same as Lance had experienced when he had first walked into this house. Suddenly, it all made sense. Quintessence is life itself. 

The vials of raw quintessence lined the entirety of the wall that they had no need for flashlights. Pidge turned back and shrugged their shoulders. 

“Not hard to miss,” they said. 

“Looks like the bonfire outside,” Lance said before peering closer. “Except…there’s no fire inside them. They look like liquid.” 

“We’ll need at least three samples,” Lalli said. “I don’t know how much we’ll need to cure Tuuri and Sven.”

“Won’t Samuli notice?” 

“The more vials you’ll take, the more likely he’ll notice,” Slav said. “And by my calculations, the probability of one vial to complete cure of any ailment should land us within 97.8% with a 0.01% error margin.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Pidge said and made for the nearest vial. Their fingers were merely an inch from the surface when a strange blue light suddenly burst forth from the wall behind the vials. Everyone jumped back; Slav hopped forward, gun ready. 

The blue mist seeped into the middle of the cellar and took form. Soon a bright red young fox was looking up at them; he wore a sly smile. 

“I knew you would be coming for these sooner or later,” he said cheerfully. 

“What is that noise?” came another voice. Lance’s heart dropped as Hannu appeared at the mouth of the cellar. He regarded them with confusion and mild alarm before his eyes noticed the vials, the many arms on Slav, and finally falling on the fox. His gasp echoed in the chamber. 

“Puppy-Fox!” 

Puppy-Fox bowed. “At your service.” 

“What?! You’ve met before?” Lance cried out while his mind reeled with the name revelation: _Puppy-Fox? What sort of villain name is that?_

“Er, yeah,” Hannu said. “The same time that Ville…never mind.”

“What do you mean, what about Ville?” 

“Ah, I believe he’s referring to the time Ville was his man’s best friend,” Puppy-Fox said, sneering towards them. 

“What’s he talking about?” Pidge asked. 

Hannu hesitated before running a hand through his head and heaving a heavy sigh. “This is stupid…Listen, there was something strange that happened in this village years ago. Something that Puppy-Fox had a hand on. Ever since that day, we had that bonfire going, and I got together with Samuli; the…incident…pulled us closer together, I guess…and…”

Slav’s eyes narrowed. “How, I wonder…Oh, _you_ must be affiliated with the dear Empress!”

Puppy-Fox yelped gleefully, watching them with all the joy as the realization hit them. “That is how the owner of this house has been sending the samples to her!”

“Precisely,” Puppy-Fox said smugly. “And I have already informed Commander Akira and Takashi of your coming in here. After all, as you always say, everything in this reality works out _just fiiine_.” 

Hannu growled and said, “I always hated you saying that,” just as Slav drew to his full height (which wasn’t very tall.) 

“By _my_ calculations, matters in this reality always work in our favor 79.9% of the time!” he announced. 

Pidge groaned as Lalli shook his head. “That’s not very confident.” 

Lalli sighed. “So those were the ones chasing after us? Two against four? We make a shitty team.” 

“Samuli’s been harvesting raw quintessence for the enemy this entire time,” Lance cried and threw his arms out. “Great! My best friend overseas is dating a madman in cahoots with an intergalactic evil empress!” 

“I don’t care about emotions,” Lalli said. “Just take the samples and kill the fox!” 

At that moment Pidge gave a yell and yanked them aside just in time as a beam blasted through, nearly missing them by an inch. Hannu was shoved to the wall as two men strode into the cellar. 

The first wore a dark suit, yet the mark of the Empress emblazoned on his arm. The man next to him was undeniably an android, handsome in design but stone-cold in how he regarded them. He vaguely reminded Lance of Sven, and Lance was surprised by how much his heart ached when he thought back to the space-man in the shed currently still nursing an infected wound.

 _Whoa, where did that come from?_ he thought with a silent nervous chuckle as they were all ushered towards the wall farthest from the exist. He was known to occasionally fall head over heels for a pretty face, but this, the way his heart ached, _really_ ached…

Their lives were at stake. 

“Commander Akira,” Puppy-Fox addressed with another bow. “High Guard Takashi.” 

“Thank you for on the information of our enemies’ whereabouts,” Akira said in a hard tone. “Once we are ensured the safety the the quintessence samples, we will silence all witnesses.” 

“What do you mean?” Hannu cried out. “I’m not planning any rebellion or anything if that’s what you—”

“Silence!” Akira pointed his gun at him. “Association with the Guns of Gamara by virtue makes you our enemy!” 

“What should we do?” Lance muttered towards Slav, hoping Akira didn’t hear him or Takashi wouldn’t blast him through the wall. 

“I have a plan,” Slav whispered. “Just stay put. All of you. Be at the ready.” 

_What do we do when you give the order?_ Lance wanted to ask but didn’t want to risk things any further. Especially not with Akira now pointing his gun right at them. 

“Were any of the samples compromised?” Akira asked Puppy-Fox in a bored tone. 

“No, but you will be soon!” came a loud cry as Hunk body-slammed Akira from the back. They went flying through the doorway, crashing into the cellar. 

“Now!” Slav yelled with mad glee and made for Puppy-Fox. 

Lalli leapt at Takashi who was pointing his arm at him, and sent a mighty blow to the back of his head. The android fell to his knees and immediately Lalli opened the compartment on his head and began reworking the wires. 

Pidge made straight for Akira to help Hunk, but with two bodies already constraining the commander, who wasn’t very tall to begin with, Lance just stood in the middle. 

He turned to ask Hannu something, but Hannu was already making for the doorway. He hoped he would call the cops, but then Samuli appeared, and without another word he grabbed Hannu around the arm and yanked him away and out of sight into the dark. 

_Ah. Great._

Lance glanced about himself. Puppy-Fox was yelping and tried to claw at Slav, but Slav had his body curled about him, his many legs and arms holding him in place. They trashed as Slav hooted as if he were riding on a rodeo. Lance would have laughed if they weren’t all about to die, and possibly still in danger. 

Pidge was sitting nonchalantly on Akira’s head, pinning his face to the ground while Hunk’s weight pinned the rest of his body. Lalli, meanwhile, was fast at work on the android. 

“Enough with the howling! I’m trying to concentrate!” Lalli snapped irritably. 

“Ah, I thought you were an expert hacker,” Slav said and gave Puppy-Fox a greater squeeze. 

“I am! But I’m also not quick. Hacking takes time, and concentration, and skill…” 

There was a sickening yelp and a loud pop. Giving a start, Lance shot around again to see Slav standing upright, grinning smugly. 

“What happened to the fox?” 

“Dead,” Slav announced happily. 

“You just killed—”

“Oh, he’s not really dead! He’s an immortal spirit, but I had weakened him enough that he just popped back into the spirit world where he belongs! The probability of him returning to continue being a pain on our backsides is 0.12%!”

Lalli glanced up over Takashi’s head. “Grab as many vials as you can before I release him.” 

“What did you program him to do?” Pidge asked, arms full, as they strode up over to Lalli. They studied the android with interest. 

“A fitting revenge for Commander Akira,” Lalli said darkly before hopping back. He grabbed whatever vials were nearest before joining the rest of them. 

A groan came from the ground as Akira slowly pushed himself to his knees. In that moment, Takashi kicked into gear. Romantic pop music, transmitted from the nearest radio station, filled the entire vicinity as he jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Akira. 

“Let’s dance, my love!” he declared, his robotic voice upbeat and in tune with the music that emitted from his ears. 

“What are you doing?!” Akira gasped out. He was powerless against the android’s arms as he took the commander through a vigorous and annoying dance. 

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk joined Slav and Lalli at the archway. 

“Now he knows what it’s like to be with Reynir,” Lalli said with a triumphant smirk.

*

Hannu was no where in sight. Hunk and Slav had searched the village but returned with no news to give.

“He must have run out of the village with his lover,” Lalli concluded. “We may have to count them as among our enemies now.” 

Lance shared worried looks with Pidge and Hunk. “Hannu’s really not that kind. Samuli…” 

“Then we’ll think of something to get your friend back,” Slav said. “After all, this is the reality where everything works out just fine!” 

Pidge groaned. “Yeah, only 79.9% of the time.” 

“He’s healing!” Reynir announced with relief. When Hunk had went to check up on the others, Reynir had remained behind, growing more worried over his patient. Sven had looked even worse when they returned, but with just a couple of drops of quintessence over the wound, Lance watched health restore the young man. 

_A…very, very handsome man. Oh, man…_

Lance was sitting beside Sven opposite Reynir, observing him work, and he couldn’t help leaning closer as Reynir declared Sven’s status to the rest. 

“You’re okay, pal?” Lance asked. 

Sven cracked open an eye and smiled up at him. “My hero.”

A blush crossed Lance’s face. “Well, I didn’t really do much. I…Hunk and Pidge attacked Commander Akira. Lalli reprogramed the robot. Slav killed a fox spirit.” 

“Ah, but just thinking about you kept me alive,” Sven said and took Lance’s hand. 

Lance’s heart must have stopped beating. He thought he saw Slav roll his eyes and shake his head, but he didn’t care. Sven was all right, and the thought of Lance kept him alive. 

“If a few drops cures septicemia, then we have to get back to Niflheim,” Lalli said. “Tuuri _needs_ this.” 

“Yes,” Reynir agreed hesitantly. “Sven still needs rest, but…you’re right. She’s been ill for so long, and the sooner we can heal her…” 

“But your spaceship?” Lance asked. 

Reynir beamed. “Commander Akira so graciously can lend us his!”

*

There were still no signs of Hannu nor Samuli. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk spoke with Jonna and Joona, explaining what they can to the best of their abilities (and leaving out whatever they felt was best to leave out) and made them promise to report any updates on Hannu’s situation.

Slav, Reynir, and Lalli located Akira’s ship hidden deep in the forest. They had gone back to untangle Akira from Takashi from the cellar and tied them both up. 

“Perhaps he can be an ally!” Reynir said happily. “Takashi is certainly being a good sport about things!” 

Lalli groaned behind him. 

Sven was still recovering. Though his face still held a pinched look, he was up and about on his feet, acting with far more strength than when he had first landed. He commanded around his friends as they prepared the ship for takeoff. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk watched. And frowned. 

“So how far is your planet?” Lance asked. 

Sven considered the question. “Several galaxies away?” he said. “We lost count after some time. Akira gave us a quite a run.” 

“Do you think you’ll ever come back?” Lance asked. “I mean, this place has quintessence and you might want some more after today and…” 

Sven smiled sadly. “Quintessence is all around, Lance. We came here because we thought it would be an easy location to retrieve some and study at our own base.” 

“Oh…” 

He regarded Pidge and Hunk and was half-surprised and half-relieved that his own thoughts were reflected in their eyes. 

“Got enough space in there for three more passengers?” Hunk asked. 

“You’re fighting in a war, and Earth _is_ involved even if most of us aren’t privy to it,” Pidge added. 

Sven studied the three of them. “You have any military training?” 

“No, but we’re willing to learn!” Lance said eagerly. “We…well, me especially would like some direction in my life.” 

“When I was in there…it must have been something about the quintessence, but I had a vision about a giant weapon I could build,” Pidge said. “A robot of some kind…” 

“You too?” Lalli asked as he passed by. “I kept envisioning cats for some reason. But I always have dreams of lynxes for some reason or other.” 

“And I have an engineering degree,” Hunk said. “If you need help on the ship. It might not be the same as Earth tech, but I can learn.” 

“And I’d love to explore space,” Lance said in a soft voice, hoping only Sven would hear. Today couldn’t be the last they saw of each other, he hoped, not with how Sven spoke around him. 

Sven smiled as he inched closer. “I do feel there is something about us, Lance. Perhaps something written in the stars. We seem to keep running into each other, and it may be a sign. 

Well, if you do not mind being away from home for a long time, then…” 

He offered up a hand, and with an excited heart pounding in his chest at the prospect of what lay ahead, Lance took Sven’s hand.


End file.
